India begins voting in crucial penultimate phase of polls

May 7, 2009, 2:52 GMT

   New Delhi - India's monthlong general elections entered their fourth and penultimate round Thursday with 1,315 candidates locked in key battles as the two rival coalitions were running neck and neck.

   Tight security arrangements were in place in New Delhi and the insurgency-hit, India-administered Kashmir, which were among the main areas casting ballots for 85 of the 543 seats in the Indian Parliament's Lok Sabha, or House of the People.

   An estimated 94.6 million registered voters were eligible to vote Thursday in seven states - Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh - and the federally administered territory of Delhi.

   Several political veterans, including External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, were among the candidates entering the latest round of the marathon five-stage elections, which began April 16 and end Wednesday.

   According to the Election Commission, the polling from 7 am to 5 pm (0130 to 1130 GMT) would be overseen by 650,000 officials at more than 129,100 polling centres.

   Mobile polling stations would facilitate voting in the vast desert district of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, the country's largest state.

   Voting was expected to be low in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, which is witnessing a shutdown to enforce a poll boycott called by separatist leaders.

   Large numbers of security personnel were deployed there as restrictions were imposed on the movement of people to prevent anti-election protests and violence.

   Senior separatist leaders - including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik - have been placed under house arrest for the past several days.

   The main contest in the Indian elections is between the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Indian National Congress party, and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), headed by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

   But as the polls come to a close, neither coalition was expected to win by a clear margin.

   Smaller, regional parties were expected to play an important role in the formation of the government after the results are declared May 16.

   According to projections in the Times of India daily, the UPA was expected to win 195 seats, closely followed by the NDA at 187. The Third Front - an alliance of communist, small and regional parties - could bag 115 seats.

   The opening of the staggered elections was marred by Maoist violence that killed at least 17 people. However, the second and the third phases on April 23 and April 30 were relatively peaceful.

   The last round of voting is set for Wednesday in the remaining 86 constituencies. The new Parliament must be constituted by June 2.